Just had an old client come in with her second baby, now 8 wks of age. First
had major latch and colic (allergy) issues that resolved over a few months.
Baby #2  has been very mellow and wonderful, but has a couple of his own
little anomalies. First, he is somewhat noisy in breathing while eating,
which the doctor says might be a mild case of laryngomalacia. Secondly, he
passes a lot of gas-- but the primary issue to the parents is of how smelly
it is. Dad kept commenting on how that baby could clear out a room just
about as well as he could.......  I did a digital exam (moderate bubble
palate, mild frenulum restrictions), sharpened positioning and latch a bit,
and observed a feed. Compared to two other babies with the same LM
condition, this little guy is the mildest, not too much distress. He did
spit up some of his feed, and from the parent's descriptions, I suspect he
may have some GER also. But they him burped well, and while swallowing air
might explain extra gas, it should not cause the gas to be that smelly, I
would think.

While they were here, the baby did "toot" quite a bit. I didn't hear it, but
mom kept telling me when it was happening. I did get one whiff, and it was
on the strong side. As the parents say, the gas smells worse than the actual
BM. By the time they left (hour and a half), the room did smell like baby's
gas.

Mom has already eliminated dairy, as she did for baby #1. We think that eggs
may also be causing a problem, and will be eliminating that and soy.  Dad
has lots of allergies, but they are all airborne and not food. Mom's family
history is very clean for allergies.

Beyond what we've investigated, what else might cause strong-smelling gas?

Lisa Marasco MA IBCLC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html